History: Colonization and the American Revolution
What this domain tests
The Colonization and American Revolution domain tests colonial development, the imperial crisis, and the war for independence. Expect questions on regional economies, slavery, the French and Indian War, British taxation, resistance, revolutionary ideas, turning points, and the Treaty of Paris. Strong answers use chronology and cause and effect.
Core concepts
- New England relied on family farms, fishing, shipbuilding, and trade; the Middle Colonies mixed farming and commerce; the Southern Colonies built plantation agriculture dependent on enslaved labor.
- Mercantilism held that colonies should supply raw materials and buy manufactured goods. Navigation Acts regulated trade but were unevenly enforced during salutary neglect.
- The French and Indian War (1754–1763) ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Britain gained Canada and territory east of the Mississippi but incurred debt and faced Pontiac’s Rebellion.
- The Proclamation of 1763 barred colonial settlement west of the Appalachians, angering settlers and speculators.
- Revenue acts included the Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767), and Tea Act (1773). The Coercive Acts (1774) punished Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party.
- Resistance used boycotts, petitions, committees of correspondence, and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. The Stamp Act Congress and First Continental Congress coordinated action.
- The Declaration of Independence drew on natural rights, social contract, and consent of the governed.
- Saratoga (1777) brought France into alliance; Yorktown (1781) led to British surrender; the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized independence and set boundaries.
Worked example
Question: Why did the Stamp Act provoke wider resistance than the Sugar Act? Reasoning: The Sugar Act taxed trade and affected merchants most directly. The Stamp Act taxed printed materials-newspapers, legal documents, pamphlets-reaching lawyers, printers, and ordinary readers. It required hard currency and used vice-admiralty courts without juries. Colonists argued that only their assemblies could tax them. The Stamp Act Congress, boycotts, and repeal in 1766 followed, though the Declaratory Act kept Parliament’s claim of authority.
Traps that cost marks
Do not claim colonists rejected all taxation; they disputed internal taxation without consent. Do not confuse the Proclamation of 1763 with a tax. Do not say the French and Indian War was fought only by colonists and France. Do not treat the Declaration as the war’s first battle. Do not say Saratoga ended the war.